Rocky Mountain Way
by drypen
Summary: Mary, Marshall, two young witnesses and a road trip. What could possibly go wrong?


A/N: I woke up one morning with the action scene running through my head. It took a while to tease a story out of it and I'm still not sure I like the ending. Thanks for reading.

* * *

Mary and Marshall checked into the rental cabin with their two charges. It had been a long day and all were looking forward to a little peace and quiet. Luckily, this was the off-season for the area around Durango and they were able to get a small two room cabin for Motel 6 prices. It even had a fully-stocked kitchenette. It was a perfect hideout.

Marshall checked out the cabin and gave the all clear. Mary and the girls brought the bags and groceries in and Mary locked the door after giving the perimeter one last look. Marshall set about unloading his gear with determination; tired of sitting and full of pent up energy.

"Jesus, Marshall, will you please sit down. Your leg is starting to bleed again." Mary said as she began to pull out the extra first aid supplies they picked up on their way into town.

Marshall looked down to see that Mary was right; blood was beginning to seep through his jeans just above his knee. The quick patch job he did on it after the incident in Grand Junction was coming undone. Their first priority, of course, had been to get moving again after being discovered at the motel earlier in the day. Taking the back roads and wandering through each small town they hit to shake off any tails meant that the usual three and a half hour trip to Durango had taken more like six. He grumbled and set his bag on the floor, shed his jacket on the couch and sat on the edge of one of the two chairs on either side of a small table, extending his leg in front of him. Hours in the car had left it stiff and it was hard to bend.

The girls were scared and tired, but far too wired to rest. Mary decided the best thing was to give them a job. She asked Jenny, the 14-year old, to set about making everyone some sandwiches and drinks. Jackie, the 10-year old, was tasked with helping Mary fix up her partner.

He picked up his phone to call Stan to give him an update. Jackie gathered a couple of towels and a bowl of soapy water from the bathroom as Mary helped him out of his boots and jeans. Marshall was thankful that the shirt he was wearing today had extra long tails as it helped hide his "Snoopy as the Red Baron" boxer shorts. Jackie still managed to catch a peek, which made her giggle and him blush. He sat down again, using one of the large towels to protect what was left of his modesty, and lifted the injured leg onto the edge of the couch.

"Hey Stan…Yeah, we're in Durango. We're going to spend the night here and come the rest of the way in the morni…Ow!" Mary had peeled the old bandage away, taking some of his leg hair with it. In response to Stan's inquiry, he replied, "I'm OK. Florence Nightingale here is just trying to kill me."

"Hi Stan!" Mary hollered. "Girls, say Hi to Stan."

They both waved at the phone and hollered "Hi Stan!" Stan sighed and indicated to say hello back.

Marshall sucked air in through his teeth as Mary cleaned the offended area of his leg with a washcloth and poked at the re-opened wound with antiseptic, causing Stan to demand just what the hell was going on.

"You want the long version or the cliff notes?"

"Well," Stan replied, "considering you left my business card on a body, the long version might be nice."

****

The morning started off promising. The drive from Salt Lake City had been uneventful so far and traveling with the girls was easier than they expected. They were used to long car trips and were good at entertaining themselves; listening to their protectors' banter back and forth was entertaining as well. Mary and Marshall had arrived in Utah early the prior afternoon to pick up their newest charges, Jenny and Jackie. The girls, blond and blue-eyed, could easily pass for relations of Mary and/or Marshall if one didn't look too close. A fact that was not lost of either of the marshals. Their mother, Natalie, had sent the girls to stay with friends after witnessing a drugstore robbery turned homicide in Sacramento. It was later determined that the robbery was actually a gang initiation by one of the most feared local gangs in California that was looking to go big time. The DOJ had already put the mother in protective custody and it was up to Mary and Marshall to retrieve the girls and reunite them with their mother in Albuquerque, where they would all enter the program.

They would usually have flown back with them, but the eldest girl was deathly afraid of flying, so they opted to rent a car and drive back. Normally Mary would have complained about having to spend a day and a half stuck in a car, with kids no less, but the drive through western Colorado was absolutely stunning in the early fall and she was actually looking forward to it as a respite from the ongoing insanity known as her personal life.

It was early evening by the time they hit Grand Junction and they decided to stop for the night. After dinner at a local café, they walked across the parking lot to the motel and checked in. It was a small place and they appeared to be the only guests. The two adjoining rooms were small, but clean and neat and each had two double beds. Mary and Jenny took one room; Marshall and Jackie the other, leaving the door open between the rooms. After giving up on the TV offerings and one last perimeter check, the group turned in for the evening.

Unbeknownst to them, however, they had been found.

Two of the gang's lesser members had been tasked with attempting to find the girls after word got out they were in Salt Lake. They managed to find the place where the girls were staying but had arrived too late to make a move. Instead, they were left with tailing the dark blue SUV while they tried to formulate a plan. Fortunately for the marshals and their charges, these guys couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag. Unfortunately, what they lacked in brainpower, they made up for in determination. The entire trip from Salt Lake, they stayed far enough back to avoid being spotted, but lost the SUV once it got into Grand Junction. They spent most of the night driving around, toking up and checking the parking lots of local motels, hoping the group had opted to stop for the night. Their perseverance was rewarded when they spotted the SUV as Marshall was loading up the luggage the next morning.

Mary had gone to the motel office to check out while Marshall loaded the vehicle. The girls stayed in the room. As Marshall loaded the last bag and closed up the cargo area, he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. His ever-vigilant marshal radar kicked in and he hustled back into the room, led the girls to the bathroom in the far room and told them stay there until either he or Mary came for them. They were worried so he reassured them, "It's probably nothing, but it's best to be sure." He quietly closed the door, drew his weapon and crept silently toward the adjoining room where he got blindsided by the bigger of the two bad guys. They had no idea who they were messing with.

The assailants underestimated their victim, who was quite proficient at hand-to-hand combat. Marshall had almost gotten the upper hand against his assailants when the smaller guy pulled out a knife and, in swinging it wildly, managed to slice the outer portion of Marshall's left thigh. He managed to get control of his weapon and fire off a round taking out the knife-wielding guy. Mary was almost back to the room when the sound of the shot made her heart leap into her throat. She rounded the corner with her weapon drawn, saw Marshall still wrestling with the other assailant and put two in the guy's chest. He fell over and Mary ran to check on her partner.

"I had him right where I wanted him." He quipped through panting breaths as he lowered himself to the floor.

"Yeah, I can see that." She replied, taking in his wound. "Where are they?"

He jerked his head toward the adjoining room, "In the bathroom." He examined his wounded leg, noting that the cut while deep, didn't seem serious; but it was bleeding a lot and hurt like hell. 'Bastards need to learn to sharpen their knives, it would hurt less', he thought to himself.

Mary found the girls huddled in a corner of the small bathroom, gave them a reassuring hug and led them out, grabbing towels and washcloths on her way. She had the girls wait in the other room while she helped her partner up, gave him a hand towel to put on his wound and stuck her head out the door to make sure the coast was clear. "What do we do about them?" she asked, nodding toward the two dead guys on the floor.

"Do you want to stick around to see if they called in the cavalry?"

"Not really."

"Me neither." He pulled Stan's business card out if his pocket and dropped it on the nearest body. "We'll let Stan deal with it. That's why he gets the big bucks."

Mary hustled the girls as quickly as possible through the other room's door to shield them from the sight of the bodies. Once out at the SUV, she had them hide on the floor of the back seat until they got going. She set down a towel on the passenger seat to keep the blood off it then helped Marshall from the room. They sped away from the motel before the locals could respond and impede their progress.

Mary looked over at Marshall's injured leg from the driver's seat, then up at him. "You OK or do we need to find a hospital?"

He removed the towel to check on the bleeding, it had slowed to more seepage than flow. He got a fresh towel and continued applying pressure. "I think it will be OK. As soon as we put some distance between us and this town, we can pull over and deal with it. I better call Stan and give him a heads up about the presents we left him."

As he pulled out his phone to call Stan, Mary looked back at their charges who were now sitting in the seats. "How about you, you hanging in?" They both quietly nodded, curled up as if it were cold in the vehicle. She could tell they were still processing what had just happened. She left them to their thoughts as she and Marshall scanned the horizon looking for any unfriendlies. It took a few rings, but Stan finally picked up, "Stan? Marshall. I need to make this quick as we might lose the signal. We had to bug out of Grand Junction in a hurry. We left two dead guys and your business card in the motel. The local LEOs will probably be calling you any time now. … We're OK, we'll check in with more details as soon as we can. Bye."

"I bet he's thrilled." Mary deadpanned.

"Ecstatic."

About thirty miles out of town, they came to a rest area and pulled over. Mary took the girls in for a bathroom break while Marshall waited in the SUV, keeping an eye out. When they returned, Mary dug through the cargo area and pulled the first aid kit and a clean pair of jeans from his bag, gave both to her partner and helped him out of the vehicle. As he hobbled toward the restroom, she dug through her bag looking for something to eat. She found some granola bars and bottled water. It would do until they could get to the next town and find something more substantial – like coffee. They'd had enough of these road trips go sideways that they always kept a few munchies and supplies on hand just in case. Mary kept watch as they ate in silence and waited for Marshall. Twenty minutes later, he limped back out to the truck.

"You good?" she asked.

"I'll live. How are they doing?"

"Shaken. Maybe you can use some of your vast useless knowledge to keep their minds off things." Then she mumbled, "God help me."

"Whoa! Trivia before coffee? We're not that screwed are we?"

"It's only for their benefit. Don't get used to it."

She helped him back into the truck as to not undo his handiwork. He was surprised to see the gourmet breakfast awaiting him on the dashboard, along with a bottle of pain relievers from his bag. 'Mmm. Breakfast of Champions" he quipped.

"And you say I can't cook."

For the next couple of hours Marshall played his version of Trivial Pursuit with the girls as Mary drove a circuitous route toward Montrose. Jenny was a kid after his own heart as she was quite the trivia buff herself. Jackie, for her age, was no slouch either. Mary felt like she had been dropped into the middle of Nerdville. It was late morning before they arrived in Montrose and they were starving. They drove around the small town a bit to find a place to eat and make sure they were alone, finally settling on an establishment called 'Syndies'. There was quite a crowd for the time of day, indicating to the hungry travelers that they had found the local hot spot.

They found a table where Marshall could stretch out his leg without being in the way and were greeted by a friendly waitress named Jan. 'What's with the J's this trip', Mary thought to herself, but was dragged back to the task at hand by a stack of pancakes going by. "I'll have of an order of that!"

"Me too, and milk." Jackie chimed in.

Marshall inquired as to the house's breakfast specialty and upon being informed it was a ham and cheese omelet, ordered it along with a carafe of coffee. Jenny opted for two fried eggs, bacon and toast, and OJ to drink.

After everyone had ordered, Jan complimented Mary on what lovely children they had. Before Mary could say anything, Marshall kicked her under the table and replied, "Thank you, they're our pride and joy." The girls, seeing Mary jump slightly at the kick, started giggling, which only fed the look she shot at him before feigning a smile at Jan.

Jan went to place the order and Mary rubbed her shin, scowling at Marshall. "What was that for?"

"It's easier to play along than explain why we're traveling with children that don't belong to us, even if we are the law. Just go with it." The girls kept giggling.

The food was delivered and the table fell silent as everyone attacked the plates before them. It didn't take long before plates were bare and bellies were full and contented faces were all around. They made a pit stop in the restrooms before paying the bill and headed out.

He took the keys from Mary and upon seeing the concerned expression on her face indicated he was OK and driving would take his mind off the dull throb of pain in his leg. It was also easier for him to get in on the driver's side, he reasoned. The girls, having been entertained and fed, were good to amuse themselves for a while. Mary thought about calling Stan, but the cell signal was fading in and out. She settled on half-heartedly reading a magazine, but after a while gave up on that. As they passed the town of Ouray she noticed a sign commemorating the Million Dollar Highway. She pointed it out to Marshall and asked "Why, O Wise One, do they call it that?"

"You really want to know?" he looked at her quizzically.

"I'm bored. Enlighten me."

He looked at her again, wondering at what point this morning his partner had been replaced by an alien.

"Well, though the entire stretch from here to Silverton has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it's really the twelve miles south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gives the highway its name. There are a variety of explanations regarding the source of the name 'Million Dollar Highway.' One version claims it is based on the value of the ore-bearing fill that was used to construct the road base. The fill was taken from the old gold mines that dotted the landscape and shaped the early history of this area. Another version claims that it refers to the high cost of building a road over Red Mountain Pass, which is 11,000 feet in elevation and the Uncompahgre Gorge, whose depth I can't remember right now."

He paused his recitation of facts every so often to pay extra attention to the road, as portions of it are challenging to drive with steep cliffs, narrow lanes cut right out of the mountain side, and a disturbing lack of guardrails. The ascent of Red Mountain Pass also has a number of hairpin curves that can be intimidating and heading south towards Durango put them on the cliff side of the highway. At the moment, Mary was glad he was driving and that he couldn't remember how far down it was to the bottom of the gorge; she focused her attention to the road. The girls were ooohing and ahhing at the view over the edge.

Mary looked back at Jenny and commented, "You're afraid to fly, but this doesn't bother you?" Jenny shrugged with a _whaddaya gonna do_ expression. Mary shook her head and mumbled "weirdo" under the breath.

He continued, "The road cost about a million dollars per mile back in the day because of the rough terrain. Believe it or not, they manage to keep this road open most of the winter."

They stopped at the summit of Red Mountain Pass to stretch their legs and take in the view. "Another version of the story is that it's named for the views, which _are_ spectacular."

"Ok, Mr. Tour Guide. We need to get going." Mary urged, eager to get off the mountain.

"Don't worry, the drive from here into Silverton is a comparative piece of cake, and from there we're only about an hour from Durango."

They piled back in the truck and drove on the rest of the way to Durango in relative silence, taking in the sights and beautiful fall foliage. Upon hitting town, they found a grocery store and after Marshall scribbled down a list of things he needed, Mary and Jackie went in for food and first aid supplies. He and Jenny waited in the truck, continuing the earlier conversation about gold mining in western Colorado. About half an hour later, the ladies came back with the fruits of their foraging. Mary also had a recommendation from the cashier of a place that rented cabins on the outskirts of town. They headed that way, eager to be in one place for a while.

****

Stan gave an exasperated sigh as Marshall finished the story. Marshall could picture him pacing and rubbing his forehead as he did so.

"Sorry Stan, but you said you wanted the long version. Ow!" He glared at Mary, whom he could swear was taking great delight in torturing him. "We'll probably have a chance to email you a preliminary report you can send to the Grand Junction cops to pacify them for a while. We'll call you when we leave here in the morning. Bye."

He inspected the work of his helpers and stopped Mary from putting a fresh dressing on it. "Let that set a bit while we eat, then I can super glue it closed."

Mary looked at him like he was nuts. "That's why you had me buy it? I should have known after the wiper fluid hose trick." Jackie looked at her, puzzled. Jenny brought the sandwiches and drinks over and sat down to listen and eat.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get out of explaining, Marshall began, "A couple of years ago, we were ambushed in the middle of nowhere and I was shot in the chest", he idly rubbed the spot in recollection.

Mary, seeing the look in his eyes, picked up the story, "Our vehicle had been sabotaged and we were miles from help. Doofus here has me get the plastic tube that carries wiper fluid from under the hood and when we found a place to take refuge, he had me put the hose through the bullet hole and the other end in a bottle of water."

He collected himself, noticing the girls' rapt attention at the story. "It made a water seal, allowing the air to escape the chest cavity and my lung to re-inflate." He looked fondly at Mary. "Kept me alive until we could get back to civilization."

"Cool!" the girls exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, I always seem to patching him up. Lucky for him he knows these neat tricks or he might be a gonner." Mary returned the look.

Jenny asked, "So what about the super glue?"

His eyes brightened, "It's an old Vietnam war thing. The glue bonds with the moisture in the skin and will hold the wound closed until we get back to town." He took a bite of his sandwich, "with the antiseptic, glue, your skillful nursing and a little luck, I may not even need stitches, though I'll probably still need to have it checked out."

"The glue isn't bad for you?" Jackie inquired.

"Nah, not on a cut this size. It just stings like crazy when it gets in the wound." He shot Mary a wry glance, "You get to torture me one more time."

"Oh goody!"

The girls cleaned up the remains of dinner and took turns taking a shower while Mary finished patching up her partner. Just before she applied the super glue into the wound, he warned "Careful with that stuff. Just because I'm happily stuck with you as a partner, I draw the line at actually being stuck _to_ you." Mary smiled wryly as she applied the glue; Marshall yelped in pain and held the skin together while it set. "You enjoyed that way too much." he accused.

"Me? Never." He looked at her sideways with a disbelieving grin, to which she replied. "Well, maybe just a little."

"Uh huh."

After the glue set, Mary put on the fresh bandage. He thanked her then stood up with the towel wrapped around him, grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom to change. In the meantime, Mary gathered up all the first aid supplies, fished the laptop computer out of her bag, retrieved the large bag of dark chocolate M&Ms from the counter and curled up in the chair opposite where Marshall had been. She opened the bag of candy and poured some out on the table as he re-emerged from the bathroom, sporting a dark grey t-shirt and sleep pants with little cartoon cowboys.

"What, no coordinating Snoopy tonight?"

"Shut up." He launched an M&M at her.

They collaborated on the promised email to Stan while snacking on M&Ms. The girls had found something interesting to watch on the TV in the bedroom, occasionally coming out to raid the candy stash. On one such raid, Jackie grabbed a small handful of candy and focused her attention to Marshall's elevated leg and quietly asked, "Why did those guys want to hurt us?"

They looked at each other in a '_you wanna take this'_ look, then Marshall finally spoke up, "Their friends are very bad people, and when your mom saw them rob that drug store, they wanted her to not say anything about it. But your mom is very brave and she doesn't want them to get away with it. The bad guys were hoping to change her mind by getting to you, but we're not going to let that happen."

"Don't worry. We're very good at what we do. We've made it this far, haven't we?" Mary added. "Now go on and get some rest. We still have a busy day ahead. You guys will have to share a bed tonight as one of us will be taking the other one."

Jackie, apparently satisfied with the answers, hugged each of them tightly around the neck and wished them good night before padding back to the bedroom.

Mary looked at him with tired eyes and reached over to squeeze his hand, "This job is tough sometimes."

"I know, but things like that make it rewarding too. Let's finish this up so we can turn in ourselves."

They finished up the email and while Marshall saved and sent it and powered down the computer, Mary gathered up their phones and plugged them in to charge. She grabbed the extra pillows and blankets from the closet and was about to get comfortable on the couch when Marshall told her to take the bed. "I'll be better off out here. I won't be able to move around as much in my sleep, lessening the chance of opening that again."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You girls enjoy your slumber party." He nestled down into the couch, set his weapon on the floor within easy reach and opened his book.

She wandered through the cabin turning off lights and checking locks before returning to his side, where she gently patted his shoulder. "Goodnight Doofus."

"Goodnight."

She gathered her gear and headed to the bathroom to do her own bedtime routine. By the time she exited the bathroom, he was sound asleep. She carefully took the book off his chest, marked the page and set it on the table. She noted the title: Guns, Germs and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies, 'what a geek' she thought, shaking her head and turned off his reading light. Finally, she retired to the hospitality of a comfortable bed, tucking her weapon under her pillow. Her roommates were already down for the count.

****

Marshall's internal alarm clock chimed at 6:00 am, and unfortunately, it didn't come with a snooze button. As he swung his feet over the side of the couch, he noted that his leg, while still sore, wasn't as stiff and painful as last night. He still moved gingerly and got up to start a pot of coffee, the aroma of which rousted his slumbering partner. She stumbled out of the bedroom, following the scent until she found the desired liquid.

He watched amused as she slowly came to life, "You want it in a cup or an IV?"

She took the cup from his hand, "Isn't it a little early to be a smartass?"

"No. I'm actually about 15 minutes behind schedule." he said, pouring himself a cup. "Mind if I take first turn in the bathroom?"

"Help yourself. I've got a date with this for now." She said, motioning with the cup.

"Now there's an image." he quipped as he ducked around the corner in time to dodge the dish towel lobbed at his head. He grabbed his bag and headed for the bathroom.

She wandered the cabin looking out each window, and after she was satisfied with the lack of activity outside, poured another cup of coffee and curled up in the still warm covers of his make-shift bed to ward off the early morning chill. She sat there quietly contemplating her latest argument with Raph and the claustrophobic feeling she got thinking of her home. This tiny cabin with four people crammed in it felt expansive by comparison, probably because it wasn't crowded with emotional baggage. She chuckled at the thought. While anxious to be back in Albuquerque and get the girls safely to their mother, she wasn't exactly anxious go home.

About the time she heard the shower turn off, she got up to wake the girls and get them moving in the direction of getting dressed and packing. She commenced gathering up her own belongings that had been strewn across the cabin's main room. She unplugged the phones and set his on the table in whose drawer he stashed his badge and weapons.

He emerged from the bathroom cleaned and polished, and if it weren't for the slight limp, one would never guess someone had tried to filet him the day before; an observation Mary shared with him. "Thanks, I think." was his reply.

Mary took her turn in the shower, leaving the bathroom door unlocked so that Jenny and Jackie could come in and brush their teeth. Marshall puttered around the cabin, reassembling his gear and packing his bag. In the kitchenette, he found the apples and cherry turnovers that had been purchased the night before and set the pastries to warm in the toaster oven. The trip from Durango to Albuquerque would only take about four hours and he was anxious to get home. He was sure the girls were anxious to see their mother too as it had been two weeks since they were sent to Utah. As the girls finished their morning routine and packed up their belongings, he set out some plates and glasses of milk for their breakfast. While they ate, he took the opportunity to call Stan again.

"Morning, Chief. Anything new on our excellent adventure?"

"Nothing. I did get your email and forwarded it to a Detective Sheridan in Grand Junction. I think it will keep him happy for a while, but as soon as you get back, you and Mary will have to conference call him with a full briefing."

"No problem. Any news about how they found us?"

"The good folks in Salt Lake are still running it down from that end, but we're not sure at this point. It does seem that they kept the information to themselves. A dump of their phone records shows no calls to anyone in Utah or California. Seem to be low-level punks trying to make their bones. Probably thought if they brought in the girls on their own, it would score some points with the boss. Most likely, you're in the clear to make a straight run for home."

"Good to know. We should be leaving here in about 30 minutes or so and barring any further complications, we should be there about noon. Should we take them to the office or somewhere else?"

"Hmm. Why don't you take them to safe house on 10th Street first. They can spend some quality time with Mom while you get your leg checked out and you both get a chance to unpack. We can take them to the office for the MOU briefing later in the afternoon."

"Sounds like a plan. You need to talk to Mary?" He spied her heading from the bathroom to the bedroom, the mention of her name made her spin around. He mouthed 'Stan' to her and she nodded.

"Nope. Nothing that can't wait. Take care."

"Oh, have Eleanor make an appointment for me with Dr. Morris for this afternoon. I can kill two birds if I check in with him as he fixes me up. Thanks chief."

Mary came around the corner with her bag in hand and headed for the table and breakfast. He joined her, pouring them both a fresh cup of coffee. While they ate, they talked about his conversation with Stan and the plan for the day. They filled in the girls in general terms about what they day held in store for them.

"Oh, and good idea on making an appointment with Warren. We haven't checked on them in a while."

"I have them every now and then…another pastry?"

They finished up their breakfast and loaded up to leave. In an eerie sense of déjà vu, Mary walked over to the lodge's office to check out, but at least this time there were no unwelcome surprises when she returned. In an effort to resolve the dispute over who would drive, they had Jenny flip a coin. Marshall called tails and won, which caused Mary to pout a bit, mostly for show.

Heading south, they passed through one of the two major areas of oil and gas production in New Mexico and Marshall shared his knowledge on the subject, explaining how the pump jacks work and reciting the surprising variety of common products made from oil. Mary made a show of being uninterested and checking her messages, but was actually enjoying learning something new. Her joy was short lived as her phone rang: Raph. Marshall could see the tension build in her shoulders.

"Hey Raph, what's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were supposed to be home last night."

"Yeah, well, best laid plans and all…anything else? Now's not the best time."

He snorted, "What else is new? It's never a good time."

"Whatever. I should be home later today. I gotta go."

She hung up before Raph could say another word. Marshall looked over at her, "Everything OK?"

"Peachy. That man's going to drive me to drink." She sighed.

With a gleam in his eye, he said, "I know the feeling." He was rewarded with a sharp smack of the back of her hand on his arm. It stung, but it was worth it as she smiled a bit, retorting, "You're no picnic either, smartass."

"Maybe not, but you secretly enjoy it." He winced as she smacked him again.

****

It was a little after noon before they rolled up to the safe house and turned their charges over to their mother and the security detail watching the house. Introductions and pleasantries were exchanged. Natalie looked over the marshals with a querying eye, noticing the uncanny resemblance to her and her kids. After a few laughs about it, plans were made to pick them all up later for the MOU briefing. Jenny and Jackie hugged them both and thanked them before returning to their mother to tell her about their adventure. Fortunately, Stan had already filled her in on the gruesome bits, so now she could hear their story without the shock factor.

After leaving the safe house, they headed for Marshall's house so he could pick up his truck. On the way, she checked in with Eleanor to give an update and relayed the appointment time to Marshall. He would have just enough time drop off his bags and check the mail before seeing Warren. Lunch, unfortunately, would have to wait.

Mary dropped him off and headed for the airport to return the rental and pick up her car. She thought about going home to unpack and relax a bit, but decided she really didn't want to deal with the reality of her life just yet. She picked up some lunch and headed for the office, one of only two places in Albuquerque she could still find peace.

16


End file.
